1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to optics, and more particularly to monitoring performance of optical components.
2. Description of Related Art
A cloud LIDAR system uses lasers and an optical transmitter subsystem to illuminate a portion of a cloud and an optical receiver coupled to a series of photodetectors to measure the reflected light. These measurements are then processed by onboard digital electronics to calculate cloud parameters. In a system such as this, it is beneficial to detect and report faults and/or performance degradation of the optical and electro-optical components, such as lasers, transmitter subsystems and photodetectors. Typical LIDAR systems require multiple additional photodetectors solely for the purpose of detecting failures.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, the inclusion of multiple additional photodetectors solely for detecting optical failures adds to a LIDAR system's cost and complexity. The present disclosure provides a solution that performs the same task, but uses photodetectors that are already present within the system.